Buried deep in the Ozark Mountains sit a small, 4 room cabin, built from the trees from the land, and one of Arkansas’s most historically significant hikes. The cabin once belonged to Eva and Frank Henderson. Eva and Frank were married in the early 1900s, purchased 167 acres on the Buffalo River, and started their homestead. There they lived a very simple life of raising their animals and their daughter in a quiet life with a backdrop of mountains, the Buffalo River, and Sneeds Creek.
Frank passed away in the 1950s, but Eva lived on, continued life on the farm without plumbing, water, or electricity. This was life as she had always known it and then came the unsettling of the land for the inhabitants with the political controversy of protecting the Buffalo River. So many of us today take the river as it is for granted, but preserving it wasn’t what everyone wanted.
Harassment by the National Park Service against Granny Henderson
In an interview given by Howard Villines*, the grandson of Eve “Granny” Henderson, the acquisition of her land by the National Park Service was not a pleasant one. She had lived on the land for almost 70 years when the NPS came knocking, they told her she would sell, or they would condemn her land to force her to give it up. While the NPS claimed they never said such thing, they did send a representative to apologize to her.
Howard was also a part owner of the homestead, and he asked the park service to please contact him in regard to the sale of the land and they did follow through on this promise. It took three years of “badgering’, as the article said, before the family sold the land. Eva was told she could have a life estate on the land, but she was told she couldn’t keep her livestock. The NPS denies they ever said that, but Eva didn’t want to live without her animals.
Her grandson built her a home near his, asked the NPS if his grandmother could live in her cabin after they took ownership for a few more months while he finished building, and they told him she would be able to stay for longer, but she would have to pay rent. According to Howard, this was devastating to Eva. She eventually moved in February of 1979 to her new home, but only made it two days before she was hospitalized for cancer, and she passed away in July of the same year.
Her grandson is quoted as saying, “We felt it was definitely the trauma and stress of the three years of dealing with the Park Service over property she would not have willingly sold at any price and the dread of leaving what had been her home for 67 years.”
Primary source for this article: Story and Pictures of Barbara Eva Barnes Henderson & Family aka “Granny Henderson”
Eva’s Cabin Today
Today, the trail can be found by foot, canoe, or horse. It is not an easy trail to do, the trail head sign said the cabin is 4 miles from the start of the trail. But my watch clocked it closer to 5 miles. I actually thought I had missed the cabin somehow and wasn’t going to be able to see it. When I turned the corner on the trail & saw the cabin it was like I had wandered into something magical.
Granny’s cabin sits as a reminder of what life was once like & is a preservation of the memory of the Hendersons and life in the early 1900s in the Ozarks. You can still see her old stove, her flower wallpaper, metal bowls, Cast iron, and other items around the property. I can only imagine the many beautiful mornings and evenings she and Frank spent on their front porch watching the colors change for the season, watching the sun rise and set.
It is a peaceful place to sit and enjoy the scenery, I highly recommend it if you are able to get there AND get yourself out!
Details I loved about her cabin
I loved her flower wallpaper, her Cast iron skillet, the fish-scale shingles on the side of the house, and the stone skirt. The small details are what make it a classic, turn of the century home, but also gives us an insight into Eva and Frank and the life they created for themselves.
How to Get There
Start at the Hemmed in Hollow parking lot. There are 2 trailhead options there; on the left is Hemmed in Hollow and on the right is Sneeds Creek. Start on the Sneeds Creek Trail. The trail begins very rocky and all downhill, you are hiking all the way down to the river.
The trail in some parts is very narrow, with some grass grown almost as tall as me, lots of wildlife, creek crossings, and the Buffalo River. You can hike the trail as an out and back, but I chose to do the Hemmed in Hollow loop. It covers a few different trails, I hiked around 10 miles, I started on Sneed’s Creek Trail. then passed on to Old River Trail after I left Granny’s Cabin, then to Compton Trail, and finally on to Hemmed in Hollow, which put me out at the parking lot.
I downloaded the map “Sneeds Creek and Hemmed in Hollow Loop” from All Trails and used that frequently. There are a ton of off shoots on this trail with backpacking campground spots, other trails in the area, so you will want a map to navigate.
At one point of the trail, I came to a very dry creek bed, and had no idea where the trail was and couldn’t find where to go. In the far-off distance, I saw orange tied in a tree, and that’s where the trail was, so having a good knowledge of how to navigate the backcountry is necessary.
This is not an easy hike, you need to be in good shape, have a good pack with safety items, a downloaded map for navigation, and have done your research on the trail.
All the information I found and even the trailhead marker said it was 4 miles to Granny’s, but my watch said it took me closer to 5 miles to get there. So be prepared for a lot of distance, because then you have to hike back out!
The hike out is a steep climb back out of the hollow. I did this hike at the end of July, definitely recommend it in cooler weather, it will be a beautiful fall hike!
Take Care of Our Arkansas History
It was Eva’s tragedy and other landowners who experienced the same loss of their homes that allows us to hike, canoe, and enjoy the landscape of the Buffalo River region. We should never take it for granted. The upmost respect needs to be given to this piece of treasured Arkansas history. Be respectful, treat it better than you would your own home, & enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the holler where Eva & Frank lived out their lives.
